Comparing Mark Twain's The Prince And The Pauper

When two different lives trade places, many obstacles will appear as they become exposed to a new lifestyle. The novel, The Prince and the Pauper written by Mark Twain, surrounds the story of two boys who traded places. A boy named Tom Canty, lives in the poorer area and is beaten everyday by his dad, if he does not bring money back from begging off the streets. One day, he traded places with a boy named Edward Tudor, who was born the same day as Tom in London. Edward Tudor is the heir to the throne of England. Tom and Edward’s lives are portrayed as being two different world. As they traded places, Tom is faced with the struggles of learning how to be proper in the household while Edward faces the beating of Tom’s father. Later on, Edward tries to sneak back into the kingdom before the Archbishop of Canterbury crowns Tom to become the king of London. With this being said
the story is developed by the character, plot, theme, and symbol. The characters in the story signifies the importance of the development of the plot. Tom Canty, the son of a lower class man, John Canty, stays at the poorer region of London, all day to beg for money in order to not get beat by his father. In the story, Tom is a dreamer who wants to have a better life as he imagine the life of living in the kingdom as a prince. “His head grew to be full of these wonderful things, and many a night as he lay in the dark on his scant and offensive straw, tired, hungry, smarting from a thrashing, he unleashed his imagination and soon forgot his aches and pains in delicious picturings to himself of the charmed life of a petted prince in a regal palace” (Twain 5). Tom Canty later on switches place with Edward Tutor who is the rightful prince and becomes a likeable king since he understands the struggles of being a pauper. "Then shall the king's law be law of mercy, from this day, and never more be law of blood” (77)! This quote signifies the plot of the story of the differences between a prince and pauper. The character development is from the situation that occurs which makes the audience continue to be curious on Tom’s personality throughout the novel. Edward Tudor, the prince of Wales, who will be the heir to throne. Although he is a prince, he is depressed of wanting to be free. This dream of wanting to be free is similar to Tom Canty which eventually leads to the plot of Edward and Tom switching places. The personality of Edward Tudor is portrayed as being humble. Throughout the story, Edward is exposed to many things that a prince normally wouldn’t go through. He begins to learn that ranting about the issues will not solve or make his kingdom a better place. “Then he added, in a gentle voice, as if he were sorry for his severity, "Obey and have no fear; I will right thee, I will make thee whole —yes, more than whole. I shall remember” (216). This reveals the differences in how Edward spoke before and after his action to the people of London. In comparison to the different king of London, Edward uses his power to do something good instead of punishing people. "'Let the small varlet be stripped and flung into the Tower.' But the new king, the true king, said: 'I will not have it so. But for him I had not got my crown again—none shall lay a hand upon him to harm him” (211). This shows a new step in growth for Edward, which shows the transformation of the character throughout the plot. The plot is mainly derived from the plot devices like setting and plotting are used throughout the novel although the character development acts as a catalyst to ensure the plot continues on. The plot is mentioned in the beginning of the story when Mark Twain stated in the novel, “One is very poor and unwanted, and the other is very rich and very much desired” (230). With this being said, although, the character development is not shown much compared to Mark Twain’s other novel like Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn had more dynamic characters like Huckleberry Finn who described as the thirteen-year old son and is intelligent (Twain, Mark, and E. W. Kemble). Twain presents the differences between lives of the lower and higher class. With the differences in lives that was portrayed, Twain exposed to the audience that the lives are not much different afterall. “Six gorgeous gentlemen-servants and two young pages of high degree, clothed like butterflies, sprung to their feet, and bowed low before him” (26). Tom is treated as a prince when wearing the noble clothing while Edward was treated like a peasant when wearing the clothes of the lower class. The plot is able to move forward by the way the character react to the situation. This sets the difference between the two boys that Mark Twain portrayed throughout the novel. Many themes that evolved over the course of the novel are identity, society class, wealth, and respect. Identity is portrayed in the beginning of the story when Tom and Edward switch places. This theme holds many questions that can relate to life like who, what, when where, and why. These questions are even mentioned in the book, Why?, that helps people in life answer the following questions of who, what, when, where, and why (McKay). Similar to these questions, the reader is about to ask themselves of what makes a prince a pauper and is it clothes that make the difference or money? For example, Tom Canty and Edward Tudor had similar features like height, weight, and other facial features people could not tell a difference when they switched spots. Tom Canty who was a pauper suddenly was treated like a prince when he wore Edward’s clothing pieces. And the same goes to Edward Tudor when he wore Tom’s clothing pieces. Later on, both of them learns that their life was not all what they had thought.
The theme social society class is linked to the different classes between Tom and Edward. Their lifestyle are completely different. For example, “When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first.” Tom Canty was always beaten up when he came home with no money. Meanwhile, Edward Tudor, “My Lord d'Arcy, First Groom of the Chamber, was there, to do goodness knows what; but there he was—let that suffice. The Lord Chief Butler was there, and stood behind Edward's chair, overseeing the solemnities, under command of the Lord Great Steward and the Lord Head Cook, who stood near” (Twain 47). Edward Tudor’s character is the most dynamic in the novel since his personality slowly changes when he become exposed to the life of a lower class. With this being said, Edward begins to understand the problems in the world that is beyond his kingdom walls. This leads to people respecting Edward Tudor as their king which is the theme of respect in the novel.
Throughout the novel, many symbols became very important to form the message or theme of the story. The two main symbols in the story were the Great Seal of England and the clothing of Tom Canty and Edward Tudor. The Great Seal of England or Seal of Majesty is the seal of the nation. It is only used for important purposes like documenting important matters ("The Great Seal of England”). In fact this seal was used during the ruling of Edward the Confessor, who is mentioned in the story when Edward Tudor hides in the tomb of Edward the Confessor the night before Tom is about to be crowned. "Where lieth the Great Seal? Answer me this truly, and the riddle is unriddled; for only he that was Prince of Wales can so answer! On so trivial a thing hang a throne and a dynasty” (264)! The seal shows power and will of the king which is why it is only used on important matters. In the story, the seal is suddenly missing after Edward switches place with Tom. This signifies that the power of the king is not there anymore. The power which is Edward Tudor who will be the heir to the throne.
The clothing of Tom and Edward is a symbol that symbolizes that even people who are in the lower or higher classes will be treated the same. With the phrase quoted by Mark Twain, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society (Petersheim).” This quote signifies the outcome of Tom Canty and Edward Tudor switching places or clothes. The reason to having clothing as a symbol is that it triggered the conflict of them switching places. If this did not happen then the book would not have had a conflict or plot. For example, the plot begun when they switched clothes, "A few minutes later the little Prince of Wales was garlanded with Tom's fluttering odds and ends, and the little Prince of Pauperdom was tricked out in the gaudy plumage of royalty” (89). Their lives were easily swapped just like swapping clothes. The symbol is similar to the book, The Emperor’s New Clothes. It shows that men with no clothes or clothes at all will be treated like any other people (Pluta). In this novel, Mark Twain does not symbolize clothing as an item but as a representation of oneself worth.
In the novel, the characters were portrayed as being flat characters. With this being said, when having flat characters, only have characteristics that help benefit the plot system in the novel. Mark Twain’s book like Huckleberry Finn had round characters compared to the Prince and the Pauper. The more round the character, the more personality that the character will have in the novel. For example, ---------------------. Although, with flat characters, authors are able to focus more on the central message of the novel. It shows that Mark Twain was more focus or concerned about the theme of the novel instead of the characters. Even though Tom and Edward’s personality was not rounded, they were still remembered from their characteristics in roles that they played in the novel.
The author, Mark Twain signifies the plot, theme, and characters by having each of the device to portray the importance to why the novel was written as it is by Mark Twain.
With this being said, in the novel, Twain continues to portray many aspect of being poor or rich, one will always be treated the same. This is an important factor in the book when relating to real element in the novel. His written work emphasis the plot between lower and higher class. The meaning of the title The Prince and the Pauper is because Mark Twain wanted to focus the story around the message or meaning of the story instead of the two character. For example, if the story was given different characters, the story would still continue the same way. Mark Twain also ties in the setting with the plot, "He was magnificently habited in a doublet of white satin, with a front- piece of purple cloth-of-tissue, powdered with diamonds, and edged with ermine” (58). This shows that the clothes worn should be around the 16th century. With this being said, Twain uses many devices to help develop the story of The Prince and the
Pauper.
In conclusion, the development of the story is led by the character, plot, theme, and symbol. An important aspect in the novel is the characters. Tom Canty who is the son of John Canty, struggles to beg for money in order to not get beat by his father. Meanwhile, Edward Tudor is the heir to the throne of England while seeking for freedom. They dreamt of being in the lower class or higher class. This dream led them to understanding many things in life that they would had never encounter. This situation is what develops the plot in the story of The Prince and the Pauper. Within the novel, Mark Twain does not give much details to the character compared to his other book like The Huckleberry Finn. But in the end, the most dynamic character is Edward Tudor who learns how to equally rule England. Some theme that are developed in the story are identity, society class, wealth, and respect. Many questions that can be asked when reading the book is who, what, when, where, why. These questions are derived from the book, Why? A theme that becomes important in the story is social society class. The novel mainly focuses on the lower and higher class. Mark Twain explains the differences between the lower and higher class from his novel. He continues to show the aspect of poor and rich with the way the people were treating Tom and Edward as they switch places. With two different lifestyle changing places, the person itself is still as equal as the other.